Identify two ways journalism can help bridge the digital divide

Journalism can help bridge the digital divide by encouraging free distribution of content and tailoring web sites for different demographics. In doing so, journalism can ensure the differential use of the Internet is lessened with regard to both the social and global aspects of the divide. To understand how journalism can bridge the digital divide through the afore mentioned processes, one must examine the current progress of both free journalistic content distribution and tailored news websites. As a result, these strategies will be illuminated as successful tools for bridging the digital divide.

In order to better understand journalism’s influence on bridging the digital divide, one should look at both the social and global aspects of the theory. Rice (2002) breaks the definition down to these two aspects, showing the social divide relating to gender, race, income and geographic differences to access and use of the Internet. Moreover, he defines the global divide as the differential access to the Internet between countries as a result of lack of infrastructure (Rice, 2002). In light of this definition with regard to journalism, social divides such as income can be overcome by the free distribution of content. For example, the increase in newspaper and magazine readers shifting from print versions to their free online counterparts demonstrates the attractiveness of free journalism (Moses, 2011). In doing so, free journalism overcomes the income barrier by allowing different income level readers to view content without being discriminated against. Moreover, Jackson (2009) builds on this notion of free distribution by stating it is a person’s democratic right to have access to free news. She says “market failures emerge when news is conceptualized as just another commodity bought and sold in a capitalist economy, and there is a negative impact on democracy” (Jackson, 2009, p. 147). If all journalistic content were available for free online, the digital divide, with regard to social divides such as income barriers, would lessen. Furthermore, it would stimulate a demand for news which could lead to increase in profits for news organisations from advertising.

Not only can free distribution of journalistic content overcome social divides, it can overcome global divides as well. With regard to economics, Jackson’s (2009) notion of ensuring all news becomes a public good would correlate to an increase in the demand for news. As a result, one could argue that those with access to the Internet in countries defined as being ‘information poor’ would increasingly seek out free online news. Subsequently, this demand increase from information poor countries would spark an effect whereby citizens would place pressure on governing bodies to provide better infrastructure. Thus, the pressure would result in better infrastructure and a decrease in the differential access to the Internet.

In addition to free online journalistic content decreasing the digital divide, the notion of better tailored content to different demographics also applies. A prime example is Twitter, which has bridged the social divide with regard to race. While it is important to note Twitter is not strictly a journalistic web site, the microblogging site is one which is increasingly being used for journalistic purposes (Farhi, 2009). With this in mind, Wayne (n.d.) notes Twitter’s ability to decrease the digital divide by stating that “[a] quarter of (Twitter) users are African-Americans, the study found, about double their percentage of the American population” (Wayne, p. 1). Moreover, Yolanda (n.d.) looks more closely at African American’s use of Twitter and finds that most engage in tweeting their own opinion on journalistic content. As a result, Twitter’s use for journalistic purposes has helped bridge the social divide by increasing African Americans’ use of the Internet. Hence, such tailored news websites should follow in Twitter’s footsteps to continue bridging the digital divide.

Vromen (2007) identifies the youth-oriented media website VibeWire Youth Service as a site which attempts to bridge the differential use of the internet according to location. The site allows users to post their own articles with regard to opinions on politics with an emphasis on encouraging new users to become engaged in politics. As a result of the site’s tailoring tactics, it brought about a 19 per cent increase in the number of users from non-metropolitan areas (Vromen, 2007). Retrospectively, one can see how interactive journalism websites catered to specific markets can bridge the digital divide gap with regard to location. Journalism can thus continue to lessen the social gap by ensuring news websites cater toward a market which may be disadvantaged due to their geographic location.

Journalism is an ever-evolving profession which has helped bridge the digital divide since it first appeared on the Internet. The distribution of free content has ensured users have had no advantage over one another, as have the different news websites tailored to different audiences. However, the digital divide remains a pertinent issue in 21^st century societies and will continue to be until people from all backgrounds have Internet access through convergent and mobile devices. Until then, journalism must continue to play its role in helping bridge the digital divide.

References

Rice, R. (2002), Primary Issues in Internet Use: Access, Civic and Community Involvement, and Social Interaction and Expression, London: In L. Lievrouw & S. Livingstone (Eds.), pp. 105–129 

Farhi, P. (2009). The Twitter Explosion. American Journalism Review, 31(3), 26-31.

Jackson, P. T. (2009). News as a Contested Commodity: A Clash of Capitalist and Journalistic Imperatives. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 24(2/3), 146-163.

Moses, L. MEDIA OUTLOOK (2011). Crossing the Digital Divide. MediaWeek, 20(34), 30-30.

Vromen, A. (2007). Australian young people's participatory practices and internet use. Information, Communication & Society, 10(1), 48-68.

Wayne, T. (n.d.) Awareness of Twitter Climbs Quickly. New York Times, 2.

Yolanda, Y. (n.d.) Black community is aflutter over Twitter, USA Today.

How is information a ‘public good’ in journalism?

News journalism content becomes a public good once it has been posted on the internet. Copy written by journalists and citizen journalists alike is consumed by readers online without directly decreasing the amount of information available to others. This raises issues regarding the longevity of media corporations as they attempt to stem the use of their content as a public good for financial reasons. As such, one must examine how content produced by journalists is used as a public good; what the implications of publishing a public good are; and how media organisations are attempting to generate revenue from their online content, in order to understand the full spectrum of information being a public good in journalism. 

In economic terms, a public good is defined by The Linux Information Project as “a term used by economists to refer to a product (i.e., a good or service) of which anyone can consume as much as desired without reducing the amount available for others” ("Public Goods: A Brief Introduction," 2006). When applying this concept to news journalism, one sees how content created by journalists and news journalists can be treated as a public good. For example, the article "Ghoulish Facebook vandals mock Australian law" published November 9 on The Sydney Morning Herald web site is a public good since it can be read by one reader (with access to the internet) without reducing the amount of article available to the next reader (Moses, 2010). This concept applies to all the content published by news websites. Moreover, the distribution of news content as a public good relates to the notion of collective intelligence whereby the result of networking via the internet accelerates the consumption of the public good. In other words, collective intelligence emanates from online networks sharing articles as a public good. Hence, the importance for the news media to be aware of their content acting as a public good is heightened when examining the issues that arise as a result of this phenomenon.

The implications of news journalism content being used as a public good are paramount for the journalism industry with regard to revenue. Shapiro identifies the negative implication of journalism being freely consumed via the internet by showing the unanimous loss of news organisations’ profits in 2009 (2009). He highlights the correlation between news content being distributed through the internet as a public good and news organisations seeking answers to their financial problems (2009). Similarly, Poniewozik states that “advertisers are unwilling to pay anywhere near the same rates for online ads as they do for print or TV ads, and the Web has all but supplanted newspaper classifieds” (2009, p. 21). The combination of decreasing advertising revenue and the viral distribution of news content has led to news organisations rethinking their revenue models. As a result, they have had to come up with new ways to exploit their content being distributed via the internet to overcome such issues.

Newspapers have attempted to generate revenue through their online components to ensure they reap the benefits of publishing content online. For example, Gabriel reports that Rupert Murdoch announced plans to block Google from listing his company’s content for free while instead supplying it for a price through Microsoft’s Bing (2009). Additionally, subscription services to online news web sites such as The Wall Street Journal have been implemented to stem the flow of free information on the internet. Poniewozik illuminates numerous ways in which news organisations have attempted to make money, including commercial sponsorship of reporters from businesses linked to the journalist’s area of expertise (2009). Similarly, Saba identifies the technique of linking the subject matter of articles to related advertisements (n.d.). While the integrity of an article may be jeopardised as a result of such practices, The Seattle managing editor for digital news and innovation Kathy Best states in Saba that “[w]e as an industry are so challenged to keep money coming in the door to support journalism that looking at credibility issues" -- involving revenue -- "is critical” (n.d., p. 18).  As such, the issue of journalistic content being distributed and repurposed as a public good across the internet has lead to no widely adopted method for creating revenue.

 

The emergence of the internet has seen the rapid distribution of online stories which has negatively impacted news organisations in terms of revenue and journalistic quality. The notions of convergence culture and transmedia storytelling will emerge as dominating players in the future of news journalism, whereby news organisations will have to find ways of generating revenue through devices such as smart phones and tablet computers. Similarly, telling the story through additional media in addition to traditional platforms will act as a way for news providers to exploit news content as a public good in the future. 

References

Gabriel, C. (2009). Murdoch enlists Microsoft in fight against Google and free content.   Retrieved November 4, 2010, from http://www.rethink-wireless.com/article.asp?article_id=2181

Moses, A. (2010). Ghoulish Facebook vandals mock Australian laws Retrieved November 9, 2010, from http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/ghoulish-facebook-vandals-mock-australian-laws-20101109-17lku.html

Poniewozik, J. (2009). What Price Journalism? Time, 174(3), 21-21.

Public Goods: A Brief Introduction. (2006).   Retrieved November 4, 2010, from http://www.linfo.org/public_good.html

Saba, J. (n.d.) WEB GETS STICKY. Editor & Publisher, 143(1), 18.

Shapiro, M. (2009). Open for Business. Columbia Journalism Review, 48(2), 29-35.